


Pretend

by PewDiePie



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira pretends to be a girl, Alternate Universe, Art, Boy in a Skirt, But Akira is secretly thankful, Crush at First Sight, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Futaba is like Akira's little sister, Gay, Gay Kurusu Akira, It's all Ann's fault really, M/M, Modeling, Morgana is a normal cat, No Phantom Thieves, Not being oneself, Pretending, Yusuke isn't quite as oblivious as everyone thinks, be yourself, but he still kind of is, pretending to be a girl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 13:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11669823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PewDiePie/pseuds/PewDiePie
Summary: In which Ann thinks it would be a great idea for Akira to pretend to be a girl to model for the unknowing artist boy, Yusuke.





	1. Chapter 1

He always thought that people wanted you to be yourself.

It wasn't until he got older that he realized that wasn't the case.

People wanted you to be yourself to some extent; they wanted you to be the version of you they liked.

They wanted you to be yourself with some exceptions.

Akira found out the hard way that, sometimes, being yourself can make someone love or hate you.

In his case though, it was usually the latter.

His parents always told him to be himself, but when they found out that he liked boys more than he should, they wanted him to be someone else. They still loved him, of course, but not the part of him that loved other boys.

Kids at school who found out would beat him up and pick on him for it. They treated him different just because he loved different types of people than they did– because they decided that his kind of love was wrong and disgusting and he should not exist if he has those types of feelings.

End of story.

This made Akira wonder. Was there something really wrong with him for finding boys attractive? There must have been, if even his parents treated him differently.

So Akira decided that pretending to be someone else rather than himself – the "version of himself" that people liked – was the easier option. If anyone asked, he did not like boys more than he should, he wasn't an awkward virgin, and girls were all he ever thought about.

However, just because that's what he said, doesn't mean it was the truth. In fact, it was completely the opposite.

The only ones who knew otherwise were Ann, a friend from school, who usually pretended to be his girlfriend so other girls wouldn't ask him out, her friends Makoto and Haru, Ryuji, another friend from school who was just different, Mishima, a boy in Akira's class, and Futaba, the daughter of Akira's boss (who also knew) and guardian (while he was going to school in Tokyo) who was like his little sister. They knew who Akira really was and accepted him, and didn't want him to change.

—

Akira woke up to the sound of his cat meowing for food, and decided it was best to get up and feed Morgana before he got mad.

It was never good when Morgana got mad.

He put on his glasses, getting the bag of dry cat food off of the dusty shelf to pour some in the bowl for the cat. Morgana, of course, snubbed the food because he thought he was too good for the dry stuff.

"I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to stop being picky and get over it," Akira told him, shaking his head. "I just can't afford the wet food this week, but I promise I'll get you some soon."

He swore the cat was glaring at him, and he sighed, getting up to change clothes.

It was the weekend, which meant no school, but that meant he'd have to spend the day working at the cafe he was currently staying in the attic of. Even if he did have to go to school, he'd still have to work after, whether it be at Cafe Leblanc or any of the other places he got jobs at.

Leblanc wasn't too busy at this time in the morning, but that didn't mean they wouldn't get busy later. Akira went downstairs and into the bathroom to freshen up a little before getting to work.

He put on his apron and started to get the coffee brewing while Sojiro made the curry.

The day was overall boring for the most part, but later in the afternoon, once Akira began doing dishes, a boy came into the cafe and sat in a booth after asking Sojiro for some coffee, beginning to sketch in a notebook he had with him.

Akira thought he was pretty, and he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of him.

The boy left a while later, however, and Akira was thinking about him throughout the rest of the day.

—

The next day after school, the boy came back, ordered another coffee, and sat down to sketch again.

The day after was the same.

And so was the day after that.

And so on.

Although the boy kept coming everyday for two weeks, he never really paid any attention to anything besides his sketch book. Akira wanted to talk to him, find out if he could, perhaps, be interested in a date, and see what would happen.

But he decided against it when he saw that the boy was not alone the next time he came.

The boy and the girl with him chatted a bit, and Akira just watched them, albeit discreetly.

Perhaps it was for the best. As it was, Akira and the boy never once spoke, he didn't know his name, and Akira didn't seem to be up that boy's alley, so it would be rather odd of Akira to attempt to ask him out.

However, Akira couldn't stop thinking about the boy.

Another week passed and Akira hadn't said anything to the boy yet, still afraid of being turned down. Ann had said she was coming to Leblanc to hang out, and so he watched the boy as he cleaned, waiting for Ann.

When she showed up, she sat on one of the barstools. "Hey," she said cheerfully, smiling, but then she lowered her voice, leaning closer to Akira. "So… is he here? Which one is he?" She then discreetly looked around.

Akira blushed a bit. "He's the one with the blue hair, sketching in that booth over in the corner there."

Ann looked to where her friend was pointing, nodding in approval. "You're right, he is pretty cute."

"Maybe you could find out his name for me?" Akira asked, and she looked at him.

"How would I do that? Besides, that sounds like a job for Futaba more than anyone."

"Perhaps act like you're interested in art and then go from there?"

She gave it a moment's thought. "It might possibly work," she said, smiling. "Alright, but only because you really want me to. You owe me one."

She stood, walking over to the boy in the corner booth. "Uh, hi there," she uttered, smiling sweetly, and the boy looked up at her, his eyes going wide. "I was just wondering what you were drawing."

"Oh?" He said, eyes widened a bit. "Nothing really, just the cafe and the people here. I've been trying to get some inspiration for my next painting."

"Oh really? That sounds super cool."

"You're absolutely stunning."

Ann's eyes went wide, not expecting that. "Uh, thanks?"

"Say, would you model for me? I'd like to capture your beauty on paper or canvas."

"H- Huh?" She was taken aback by that, but it was a good opportunity to learn his name. "I don't even know your name."

"Oh, yes," he said, "My apologies. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. And you are?"

"Ann Takamaki," she murmured, sitting down for a moment. "Nice to meet you, Yusuke."

"So, what do you say?" He pressed, and she quickly tried to think of an excuse.

"Umm, I'm a little busy these days with school. Perhaps my friend could instead?"

"Well, it depends."

"On what?" She then asked.

"What does this friend look like? I may not be able to draw any inspiration from them."

Ann couldn't really think her way out of this.

"How about… I'll have my friend call you later tonight? And you can meet up tomorrow?"

He gave it some thought. "Very well," he then said, standing up. "Here's my contact info." He handed her a piece of paper, which she took and looked over. "But it's for you as well. If there is any possibility of you changing your mind, you can always message me."

"I'll… be sure to," she uttered and smiled, and then he left. Ann got up and walked back over to where Akira was, washing dishes, and sighed as she sat down again.

"So?"

"I got his name and number, and also a modeling job for you."

Akira stopped what he was doing. "A modeling job?" He asked, blushing a little. She nodded, smirking slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"He wanted me to model for him, but I'm busy with other things and besides, I'm not interested. I told him I had a friend who'd call him, which is you."

"If he wanted you to model for him, he won't want someone like me," Akira told her, sighing a little.

"Why do you say that?"

"He obviously wants a pretty girl as a model, and I'm most definitely not a pretty girl. He won't have me as myself. He won't want me to do it. I'm just not…"

Ann waited, but he never finished, so she spoke instead.

"Why do you think he won't want you as a model if you're a boy?"

"Because last week, he was here with a girl, which was either his girlfriend or model. She wasn't as pretty as you, but she was pretty. Then he asked you, another girl, to model. I can't compare. But I'm pretty sure I won't have a chance even if he accepts me as his model."

"Well, if you're so sure he won't accept you, and you think he likes girls, then why don't you pretend to be a girl? That way, you could even ask him out without feeling like he's going to think you're weird."

"Pretend to be a girl?"

Futaba chose that moment to walk downstairs, Morgana in her arms. "Hey guys, I finished my game. Whatcha talking about?"

"Well," Ann began, "Akira likes this boy that's always coming here, and so, since he was too shy to ask him his name, I did, but the boy wanted me to model for him since he's an artist and all, but I'm not interested in the slightest, so, I told him I had a friend that would, which is obviously Akira, but he's scared that this boy won't accept him as a model because he's a guy, so I suggested that Akira pretends to be a girl."

Futaba took a moment to process this, and then looked at Akira, and then Ann. "You think it'll work?" She asked, and Ann shrugged. "I mean, I know which guy you're talking about but I don't know…"

"I could get some of my friends from school to help, and besides, when I spoke to him, he seemed pretty dense, so I don't think he'll notice."

Akira shook his head. "But–"

"I could help, too," Futaba said, nodding, ignoring the boy altogether. "When's he meeting this guy?"

"Tomorrow."

"Yeah, you should call your friends tonight and ask if they'll be available tomorrow."

"But–"

"We need some clothes for him," Ann stated, and Futaba nodded again. "Oh! I bet Haru has some she wouldn't mind letting him borrow! She's so sweet. I'll call her! And Makoto would be great help too!"

"That's a great idea! I can't wait!"

"Me neither!"

"I never agreed to this–"

"Shh, we're talking," Futaba said, cuddling the cat. Akira just sighed, resuming washing the dishes.

"Can you at least tell me his name?" He asked, and Ann giggled.

"It's Yusuke."

"Yusuke…"

Later on, Ann made sure Akira messaged Yusuke before he went to bed.

—

Akira woke up to Futaba trying to literally drag him out of bed. "Get up, frizzy head, you have to get ready and Ann, her friends and I are waiting on you. Also, get this cat some wet food already. He doesn't like the dry stuff, you know, and you promised to get him some like three weeks ago."

Akira sighed, sitting up a little. "How did you know about that?" He then asked, rubbing his eyes and Futaba rolled her eyes.

"He told me. Doesn't matter."

"He can't talk. He's a cat."

"Leave me alone I didnotwiretapanythingofyours–"

Akira blinked at her rushed words. "…What…?"

"…What…?" Futaba shook her head. "Anyways, get up. Now. We have to make you look pretty for the beanpole who's coming to meet you."

"He's going to know that I'm a boy."

"Not if we can help it."

Futaba smiled, picking up Morgana and walking downstairs to get the girls. She returned with Ann and her friends, Makoto and Haru.

"Hey, we're here to prettify you," Ann said cheerfully, smiling. "You know Makoto and Haru. Anyways, let's get started. He'll be here in about a half an hour or so, right?"

Akira nodded.

"Okay, what to start with…?" Futaba murmured, thinking about it as she stared Akira down.

"How about we see if the clothes fit?" Haru suggested, and the other girls nodded. Haru pulled out a pastel pink sweater she wore a lot and a black and red school skirt out of her bag, as well as a few other things. She handed Akira the clothes. "We'll turn around. Try these on."

Makoto handed him one last thing before she turned around.

Akira heaved a sigh as the other girls turned away to discuss something while they waited, undressing and putting on Haru's clothes.

They fit surprisingly well, and they were comfortable. Even the leggings. The bra, however, not so much, especially since he had to stuff it with some padding Makoto brought and just gave to him.

"You can turn around now."

The girls turned, surprised at how well he looked in Haru's clothes.

"How do I look?" He asked nervously, wanting to impress the boy he developed a crush on so badly that he'd resort to this.

"With your eyes," Futaba replied sarcastically, giggling. "Just kidding. You look cute!"

"Do I still look like myself?"

"A little, but we'll just fix your hair a bit, add some makeup and voila!" Makoto said, smiling.

"But what if Yusuke recognizes me?"

"I don't think he will," Ann said, and Futaba nodded at that.

"Yeah, he usually seems lost in his own world whenever I spot him, and like Ann said, he seemed pretty dense to her."

"But I have a feeling something will go wrong."

"Don't say that," Haru uttered, smiling. "I'm sure things will go well! Now, sit down and let us girls work our magic!"

Akira did so, and immediately, the girls swarmed him. Ann took off his glasses while Makoto and Haru got out their makeup.

They used mascara to make his eyelashes look longer and therefore make him look more feminine, light blush on his cheeks to give him a slight innocent vibe and light lip gloss. Ann worked on his hair some, and when they were all finished, they stepped back to admire their work.

"You look so good!" Ann commented, putting his glasses back on him.

"You sure?" Akira asked, and then Futaba pulled out a mirror.

"See for yourself," she said, handing it to him. He looked at himself, surprised. He looked just like a more feminine version of himself.

"Do you really think it'll work?" He asked, feeling nervous. The girls all nodded.

"Just make sure when you sit, you keep your legs closed, and try to walk lighter," Makoto advised him, and Akira nodded. "Also, when you speak, make sure you talk a little higher than usual, but not too much."

"But mostly, just be yourself as best as possible," Haru then said, and the other girls agreed.

"It's hard to do that when I'm pretending to be a girl."

"Your real self – not the boy everyone else wants you to be – likes boys anyway," Futaba told him, giggling. "Just roll with it. Besides, if he somehow believed Ann was truly into art and all with her bad acting, then he's a bit gullible and you'll be fine."

"Hey!" Ann protested, pouting. "My acting isn't that bad…"

Makoto tried to stifle a giggle at that.

"I'll go check if he's here," Ann then said, going downstairs, rolling her eyes at the others all the while.

When she came back, it wasn't with Yusuke, but Ryuji. The blond boy's eyes widened at the sight of his friend. He looked like a girl.

"What's going on?" Ryuji had to ask, because he hadn't the slightest clue. He briefly wondered if this was Akira or some sort of twin sister Ryuji didn't know he had.

"Akira's meeting with a boy he likes to do a modeling job Ann set up for him, but the boy seems straight, so Akira's dressing as a girl," Makoto explained, and Ryuji just gave a nod, his eyes never once leaving his best friend.

After a moment of silence, Ryuji spoke again. "Holy shit, dude, you really look like a girl," he remarked, and Haru giggled.

"I'm glad we did such a good job!" She cheered, hugging Makoto.

"I just wish he'd hurry and get here so we can find out what he thinks," Futaba grumbled, sitting down. "He's taking way too long."

"Relax," Ann told her, heading for the stairs. "I'm going to text him and then prolly wait outside. Akira, when you hear me call for you, come down, okay?"

He gave a nod, and she smiled and went downstairs.

"Where's Boss?" Ryuji asked, looking at Futaba.

"Home. He doesn't feel well today, so the shop is going to be closed for a couple of days. Said something about how it wouldn't make a difference anyway."

"Ohh, I gotcha."

A few minutes passed, and finally, Ann called for Akira to come downstairs.

"Go get 'em," Futaba said, punching him in the arm. Akira rubbed at the spot, feeling like a bruise was going to form there, and stood, putting a pair of Makoto's shoes on before heading downstairs.

The others followed, wanting to see what would happen.

"Hey, this is the friend I told you would model for you," Ann said, smiling.

"Ah, so… it's you…" Yusuke uttered, surprise on his face as he studied Akira, and the boy found himself blushing under the artist's intense gaze. Akira wasn't sure what that look meant, however.

"Is something wrong?" Akira quickly asked, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable silence. His heart was pounding and he was afraid everyone else in the room could hear it. "I'm dressed okay, aren't I?"

"No, that's not the case at all," Yusuke murmured, smiling after a moment. "You'll be just fine for me to work with. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. What's yours?"

"Akira Kurusu," he replied, smiling small.

Yusuke actually seemed to believe Akira was a girl. This was going well.

"She's just a little shy," Ann explained, and Yusuke gave her a look, and then he just nodded.

"Oh, I see. Well… it'll be alright. I'll be sure to… treat her well."

Ann nodded, smiling a little. "Good."

"So, I was thinking we go back to where I stay, in the school dorms, if that's alright with you," Yusuke turned to Akira, and he gave a nod. "We should get going then."

"See you later," Ann called, watching the two leave. She then turned to the others, still smiling. "I can't believe he actually fell for it."

"He's oblivious," Futaba murmured, shaking her head.

—

Yusuke's dorm was rather tidy, Akira noticed, as they stepped inside. There wasn't much in the room, just a futon, canvases covered by a sheet, a desk, and an easel, and a few other items. There were a few exposed paintings, and Akira studied them.

"Your room is nice," he commented, and Yusuke gave a small smile. "It's somewhat peaceful."

"Thank you," the artist replied, closing the door. "It's not much, I know, but I like it this way – simple."

Akira nodded at that, and Yusuke gestured to the mattress. "Please, sit."

He did so, and Yusuke put a blank canvas on the easel. He then grabbed his pencils and paints and brushes, as well as his pastels and charcoals.

He then moved over to Akira, studying him. "You do not have many curves," he commented, and Akira found himself blushing.

"I- I'm sorry."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing."

Yusuke stared at Akira for a while, and the boy dressed as a girl found that the heat in his face wouldn't go away. "What are you doing?" He asked after a moment.

"I'm deciding."

Before Akira could ask what he meant, Yusuke spoke again, reaching for Akira's glasses. "Do you mind?"

"I don't," he replied, shaking his head.

Yusuke nodded, removing them before moving to the easel. "Now, please refrain from moving."

"Okay."

And Yusuke began sketching. Minutes, hours passed by. Akira watched with blurry vision as Yusuke worked, watercolors and oil paints covering the canvas.

Before he realized it, he'd fallen asleep sitting up. When Yusuke decided he was tired of painting for the day, he shook Akira awake.

"We're done for the day," the artist said softly, and Akira gave a nod at his blurry face. "I'll walk you to the subway station."

Akira stood, trying to figure out where his glasses went. Yusuke grabbed them, handing them to him. Akira gave him a small smile.

They walked to the subway station together, and Akira got on the subway to Yongen-Jaya.

His friends were all still there at Leblanc, up in the attic, watching DVDs while they waited for him to come back.

When he went upstairs, they paused their DVD, excitedly looking at him.

"How was it?" Futaba inquired, grinning massively, and Akira stretched, yawning.

"It was fine," he answered, taking off the shoes that were hurting his feet at this point.

"What'd you do?" Ryuji questioned, wiggling his eyebrows. Akira knew what he was implying and rolled his eyes. Ann smacked the back of the blond's head for it.

"Sat there and somewhat watched him work before I fell asleep."

"Really, that's all?" Ann then asked him, and Akira nodded.

"He said we were done for today, but I guess that means he wants me to model again. I forgot to get his info and I don't want to seem like a stalker if I ask you for it."

Ann nodded. "I get that. I'll be sure to text him."

"Also, Futaba, just to be sure he doesn't recognize me, I need you to hang around and stall him if he comes while I'm working."

The red headed girl nodded, petting Morgana, who sat in her lap.

"If you're going to be doing this quite often, you should consider going out and buying better clothes to wear, so you don't have to keep using Haru's," Makoto told him, and Akira gave a sigh.

"But don't worry, we'll accompany you," Haru said quickly. "However, we can't always be here, so we'll have to show you how to apply your makeup. You can always ask Futaba for help, since she's always around, right?"

"Mhm," Akira murmured, reaching under the sweater and unhooking the bra, dropping it on top of the shoes. "That was getting annoying."

"Tell me about it," Ann sighed out, crossing her arms. "Being a girl is definitely not easy."

Makoto, Haru and Futaba all agreed.

"There's just something I wanna ask," Ryuji uttered after a moment, looking over at his friend. "What are you going to do if this guy asks you out?"

"I'd accept his offer, I suppose," Akira responded, shrugging a bit, however, he felt his face heating up. "Why?"

"Well, let's just say you two start dating," Ryuji began, and Akira nodded for him to continue. "And let's just say you get back from a date and you start making out. Let's say you guys are getting real into it, and then he climbs on you, because you're supposed to be a girl, and he tries to touch you, tries to take off your clothes. What then?"

Everyone remained silent while they waited for Akira to answer. What would he choose to do that kind situation?

"I wouldn't let him," Akira finally said, giving a firm nod afterwards, as if convincing himself. "I'd tell him that I'm not ready. Why do you ask?"

"Even if you were? Even if you wanted it?"

"I suppose so…?"

"What if, down the road, he asks you if you're ready then? Don't you think it'd hurt his feelings if you'd keep rejecting him?"

"I don't know… I guess…"

"What if he wants to suddenly do a nude painting of you and you're supposed to be a girl?"

"I… I don't know…"

"And what if he stays with you for a long while, and it gets to the point where you're always having to dress as a girl so even if he comes to surprise you, you're prepared?"

"I…"

"I guess, what I'm getting at is, would you be willing to lie to him for such a long time?"

Akira was a bit taken aback by all of this. "I…" He murmured again, but he couldn't come up with an answer, and Ryuji seemed to have some kind of point here.

"I'm not trying to tell you what you should be doing," Ryuji told him, sighing, "I'm just trying to help before it all goes to shit, you know? I know you've only met up with him once, but I feel like, any more pretending, and it will all go downhill from there. I'm just trying to look out for you."

Akira nodded. "I… I know… I'll let him finish the painting and then I won't see him anymore."

"But don't you like him?" Haru asked sadly.

"I do, but I just feel like he won't like me. The real me… In any case, I'll figure something out, I guess."

"Why do you feel like that anyway?" Ryuji then asked. "I mean, we all like you. You really don't think he would too?"

Akira shrugged again. "I really don't know."

Ann gave a sigh. "Maybe this was a bad idea…"

"So, what?" Futaba questioned, and they all looked at her. "Do you just wait for him to finish his painting and then just not see him again? That's kind of a gutless move."

"What else can I do?"

"Tell him the truth, maybe? Tell him that you're really a boy who works at the cafe, who makes his coffee most of the time, admires him, and was just a bit too awkward to talk to him. Tell him that you only pretended to be a girl because you thought he wouldn't accept you for who you are. If he hates you after hearing all of that, then he's not worth it."

"I suppose you're right. I'll do it when the painting is done, then."

—

Yusuke came by the next day to get Akira. He took him back to his dorms, had him pose, and then begin to paint again.

When he was done, he exhaled rather loudly, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm.

"It's finished," he said, frowning, and Akira didn't know what was wrong.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, and Yusuke shook his head.

"No, I don't like it very much."

"Why is that?" Akira stood, moving to look at the canvas. It was just him, sitting there, but it was beautiful.

"There's something about it… It feels… strange and untrue…"

"Strange and untrue?"

"Perhaps it's because you've chosen to dress as a girl again. For some reason, I cannot paint you like this without it feeling fake."

Akira's eyes went wide, his face heating up. "What?"

"Did I say something wrong?" Yusuke asked, confused.

"H- How did you know I'm not actually a girl…?"

Yusuke looked at him, still feeling confused. "You didn't want me to know?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I- It's not that, I just… well…"

"What's wrong? Was I supposed to think you were a girl? Have you recently realized you're more in touch with your feminine side and became transgender or something like that? Because that's fine. Or perhaps you're gender-fluid? I apologize if I've offended you. That wasn't my intention."

Akira shook his head. "No… it's nothing like that…" He said, trying to understand what was happening here.

"So then… why are you dressed as a girl anyway?"

"Why did you accept me as your model if you knew…?"

"Hm? Because it doesn't matter to me."

Akira was taken aback. "It doesn't…?"

"Why did you think it did?" Yusuke asked him, and Akira didn't have an answer.

"I guess I just assumed… And I thought you didn't want a male model, so I dressed as a girl so you'd paint me…"

"Trivial things such as that do not mean much to me," Yusuke told him, smiling small. "I'd rather you'd have just been yourself."

Well, Akira felt stupid.

The blush on his face from all of the embarrassment wouldn't go away, but he found himself speaking again.

"So… how did you know I wasn't really a girl anyway?" He asked, and the artist chuckled.

"I've seen you working at Leblanc. I kept coming back in hopes of having a conversation with you, to ask if you would be my model, but I never did. I was worried of your answer."

"I wanted to talk to you as well… but… I'm just…"

"Shy? Yes, Takamaki told me yesterday."

"I'm not really shy, but more awkward. I wasn't sure how to talk to you."

"I understand. Perhaps we should start over."

"I agree."

—

When Akira got back to Leblanc, his friends were there waiting. This included Mishima, who wasn't as shocked as Akira thought he would be at the way he was dressed. He figured the others must've filled him in.

"How'd it go?" Ann asked, and Akira smiled a little.

He explained to them what happened, and after a moment, they all started to laugh.

"Guess he isn't as dense as we thought," Futaba said, and the others nodded.

"So, are you going to ask him out now that he knows the truth?" Makoto inquired, and Akira shrugged.

"I'm going to model for him again tomorrow, but as myself this time. Then we're probably going to grab something to eat and get to know each other a little bit better, so not yet."

"Good luck!" Mishima told him, beaming at him.

The next day, Akira did model for Yusuke again, but this time, he was himself, and they were at the park near the dorms. Yusuke painted Akira lying in the grass, and he quite liked the painting this time.

It didn't feel fake.

They did go and get something to eat afterwards, and they talked for a while, getting to know each other better.

Yusuke asked Akira why he wasn't himself around anyone other than his friends, and Akira decided he couldn't tell him. That meant telling him he was gay, and after all, Yusuke, being as oblivious as ever, didn't know of the feelings that were slowly developing inside of Akira for the artist, so Akira said he wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

And so Yusuke didn't bring it up again.

And Akira was grateful for it.

Perhaps he'd tell Yusuke another time about his feelings, but for now, he'd just pretend, like he did with everything else. Pretend they didn't exist.

—


	2. Not part 2 (yet)

So, hey... I was writing part 2 for this, but I was unhappy with the results and was going to redo the draft this week or so,

 

..but my laptop broke.

All of the drafts I had are gone, the ShuKita fic I was working hard on is gone, everything- all because my macbook won't boot up anymore. Ive been really upset because of it, so i probably wont be able to get part 2 out for a while longer. I'm so sorry, and i hope you guys understand ;-;


	3. NOT AN UPDATE, BUT IMPORTANT.

Soooo... it's been about 4 months. I finally got a new computer but after I finished my new fanfic, I got writer's block + lost phone minutes and haven't had any data since Christmas eve. I'm going to probably start posting again, but I don't know how many ShuKita fics I'll work on, or even if this will be finished- it's not my main priority or anything.

I may post the 40K+ word BTS fic I've worked on since October finally, but I'm not sure if I'll write anything super new just yet. I'm sorry- my girlfriend just broke up with me so I'm pretty upset and don't know if I'll want to write much for a while.

I hope you guys understand ♡.

**Author's Note:**

> I was in the middle of writing a second part, but I wasn't sure if anybody would want one... so... let me know...?
> 
> Also, this is my first persona 5 fic, and I'm not exactly happy with it, but it'll do. i did have writers block, but im good i think... oh, and I wrote another shukita I'm about to post c:


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